Avenue Road, a heritage road in the city, is a lifeline for hundreds of businesspersons and tens of thousands of commuters. Though it is the heart of the city's central business district (CBD), one wouldn't think so going by the looks of it.
The road is riddled with potholes, the footpaths are uneven, garbage lies in unsightly heaps and sanitary and water lines are damaged.
Compounding all this is the stretch between Chickpet Junction and Venkataramanaswamy Temple, said to be the narrowest on the road, which has been dug up by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to replace a sanitary pipeline.
Though the BWSSB claims to have completed the work, the road has not been repaired for the past two or three weeks.
Raj Purohit, president of Karnataka Hosiery and Garment Association, told The Hindu conditions have worsened over the past fortnight. “With one side of the road still dug up, only two-wheelers are able to use it. This has affected business by at least 30 per cent.”
C.V. Krishna Murthy, proprietor of Kusum General Stores, said complaints to BWSSB and BBMP have been useless. “Ironically, the BBMP didn't know BWSSB had dug up the road. There is no coordination between the civic agencies.” Another trader, who refused to be named, saw a conspiracy, pointing out that the utilities time their “repair and replacement” work during the “shopping season.” “They don't complete the work on time and this affects our business. Their work is shoddy and they don't take action against the contractors,” he said.
BWSSB Chief Engineer T. Venkat Raju said the utility had take up emergency work as the sanitary line had been damaged. “We will replace the pipeline in the remaining stretch after calling for tenders. We are now preparing the estimate,” he said.
BBMP engineers said silt had been removed from the drains on the stretch and work on footpath levelling and road asphalting would be done in a month.
Chickpet councillor A.N. Shivkumar said the road can be paved only after the mud in the dug-up portion had settled.
No funds
Acknowledging the appalling state of the road, Mr. Shivkumar said: “This is an old area that was developed probably during the British period. We need to restructure and revamp the infrastructure facilities. However, I am unable to take it up because of lack of funds. I have urged Mayor Sharadamma, Deputy Mayor S. Harish and Commissioner Siddaiah to grant more funds to this core area.”
